[Geneva, 28 November 2024]

The Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS) and the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN-PRI) organised a breakfast event on “Enhancing investor action on Human Rights Due Diligence”. Hosted by Asset management firm and our long-term partner, de Pury Pictet Turrettini at their Geneva offices, the event took stock of the key takeaways from the UN Forum on Business & Human Rights and looked at how signatories can take these forward to advance their own progress on human rights. The session involved a deep dive into the respective synergies and trade-offs between human rights, nature and peace in Switzerland and abroad.

TrustWorks CEO and founder, Josie Lianna Kaye PhD, was invited to share some lessons learned from engaging with companies using TrustWorks propriety benchmarking methodology. It was also an opportunity to share some insights from our brief on what’s heightened (and what’s not) about heightened human rights due diligence.

As a result of widespread conflict and political instability worldwide, companies, investors and, indeed, consumers are increasingly linked to armed conflict and global instability worldwide. Whether through the metals and minerals required for the energy transition, through consumer staples such as sugar, cacao, coffee and cotton or through social media and travel platforms – amongst other goods and services – our lives are increasingly interconnected with, and at risk of causing, exacerbating or sustaining violent conflict.

This places both companies and investors in a critical position: if responsible companies and investors were to leave fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCS) this would have a devastating impact on international peace and security; at the same time, if responsible companies with business activities in FCS were to consistently and meaningfully implement heightened human rights due diligence (hHRDD), it would contribute to a substantive reduction in levels of violent and armed conflict.

A thorough understanding of responsible business in FCS is more critical now than ever before. Our brief on hHRDD – the second in our Responsible Business in Conflict series – covers the four most asked questions by companies and investors regarding how to conduct hHRDD. Check out the brief to find out what they are.